State Street is slashing up to 1,800 positions to cut costs and Boston-based asset manager Wellington Management is also scaling back its workforce in what has been a volatile market for asset managers.

State Street said it would cut staff between now and the end of the first quarter of next year in a move expected to produce up to $400m in annualised savings. The staff cuts will amount to 6 percent of its global workforce or about 1,600 to 1,800 job losses.

About two thirds of the cuts will come from its North American offices with the remainder from Europe and Asia-Pacific where it sees more possibilities for growth.

The mutual fund manager will make the cuts by consolidating senior and middle management positions, according to a statement released by the company.

Ronald Logue, chairman and CEO of State Street said: “It is important for State Street to continue to deliver consistent earnings growth, particularly during this difficult environment. Taking this action increases our ability to do so.”

Wellington's cuts, which will affect all levels of the business, began Monday. Industry publication Pensions & Investments sourced an industry veteran who said the cuts at Wellington Management would amount to 10% of the business.

Wellington said in a statement: “Given the tumultuous events in the global financial markets during 2008, we have made rigorous efforts to slow spending, be more efficient, and reduce our expense structure without hampering our ability to continue to meet our obligations to clients. Included in these efforts was the difficult decision to reduce our workforce, which has been implemented over the last several days.”

Wellington acts as an investment advisor for about 1,500 companies and has roughly $450bn (€355bn) in assets under management, according to its website.

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The job cuts have not impacted the 16 funds it manages for The Vanguard Group, one of its largest clients and whose founder, John Bogle, once worked for Wellington.

The funds had a total of $128bn in assets under management as of November 30, according to a Vanguard spokeswoman. The largest fund Wellington manages for Vanguard is the $37bn Vanguard Wellington fund for which it is the sole fund manager and dates back to 1929.

A spokeswoman for Wellington declined to comment beyond the statement.